Table of Contents

National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 1992 (ICPSR 6585)

Principal Investigator(s):United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics

Summary:

The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
(NHAMCS) was inaugurated in 1992 to fill a gap in data about ambulatory
medical care in the United States. Although the National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) collects annual data on patient visits to
physician offices, it excludes the hospital emergency room and
outpatient department visits that make up a large part of the total
ambulatory care received each year. The 1992 NHAMCS provides data from
samples of patient records selected from emergency departments (EDs)
... (more info)

The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
(NHAMCS) was inaugurated in 1992 to fill a gap in data about ambulatory
medical care in the United States. Although the National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) collects annual data on patient visits to
physician offices, it excludes the hospital emergency room and
outpatient department visits that make up a large part of the total
ambulatory care received each year. The 1992 NHAMCS provides data from
samples of patient records selected from emergency departments (EDs)
and outpatient departments (OPDs) of a national sample of hospitals.
The resulting national estimates describe the use of hospital
ambulatory medical care services in the United States. Between December
2, 1991, and December 27, 1992, data were collected from 314 OPDs and
437 EDs. Among the variables included are age, race, and sex of the
patient, along with the reason for the visit, physician's diagnoses,
cause of injury (ED only), surgical procedures (OPD only), medication
therapy, and expected source of payment.

Study Description

Citation

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics. NATIONAL HOSPITAL AMBULATORY MEDICAL CARE SURVEY, 1992. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics [producer], 1994. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1995. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06585.v1

Universe:
The 1992 NHAMCS included a national probability sample of
visits to the emergency and outpatient departments of noninstitutional
general and short-stay hospitals. Hospitals within the 50 states and
the District of Columbia that had an average length of stay of less
than 30 days, or hospitals whose specialty was general (medical or
surgical) or children's general were eligible for the NHAMCS. Excluded
were federal hospitals, hospital units within institutions, and
hospitals with less than six beds staffed for patient use.

Data Types:
administrative records data

Data Collection Notes:

Per agreement with NCHS, ICPSR distributes the data
file(s) and technical documentation in this collection in their
original form as prepared by NCHS.

Methodology

Sample:
The NHAMCS used a four-stage probability design with
samples of primary sampling units (PSUs), hospitals within PSUs,
clinics within hospitals, and patient visits within clinics.